A Reference Architecture for Cloud Application Design using VMware’s vFabric and vSphere

A Reference Architecture for Cloud Application Design using VMware’s vFabric and vSphere

Session Abstract:

This session is designed for VMware’s ISV partners who are supporting their applications in a traditional on-premise model today and considering a move toward new delivery models such as virtual appliances or cloud (private, public and/or hybrid). Cloud-based applications are being built today using a new set of design approaches. No longer is the server-side logic of web applications all based on a single monolithic application server that controls everything. Instead, the application functionality is broken up into a set of services that communicate with each other and with the front-end using a loosely coupled format, based on REST and JSON. This talk will show you the principles that underlie this new architecture and will provide a demo of the architecture in action using many of the vFabric tools and platforms. This will allow the attendee to more easily modernize their current applications and build next-gen application using contemporary ideas. Taking an existing well-known application, the DayTrader, as a model, we de-construct it from its original design and re-build it using the new modular principles, so that it exhibits the best ways of using vFabric to build a new style of application. All of this new architecture leverages the VMware Infrastructure, and is the basis for the application infrastructure in the cloud. This brings distinct benefits to the application and provides the application architect with new choices. If the designer does not want to build their own High Availability into the application, for example, then vSphere’s HA can be used to enable that in the application. The virtual machines in which the application runs may be moved using vMotion around the data center for load balancing purposes, so application-level load balancing may need to take that into account. For cloud-based delivery, VMware’s vCloud Director can be used to provision multiple customers in secure containers using shared underlying infrastructure. Finally, we will explain the cooperation between the hypervisor and the application runtime that is now available using features such as vFabric’s Elastic Memory for Java (EM4J). This shows the benefits of virtualization to a cloud-enabled application. Leaving this talk, the attendee will have an understanding of VMware’s thinking in the cloud application area and be able to execute it in their own business.